Camille Jenatzy (1868,

Schaerbeek (French and archaic Dutch, ) or (contemporary Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Etterbeek, Evere and S ...

– 8 December 1913, Habay la Neuve) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

race car driver. He is known for breaking the

land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...

three times and being the first man to break the 100 km/h barrier. He was nicknamed ''Le Diable Rouge'' ("The Red Devil") after the colour of his beard .

Record setting

On 17 January 1899 at

Achères, Yvelines Achères () is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune of Achères lies on the south bank of the Seine in a loop of the river, on the edge of the Forest of Saint-Germa ...

near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, he reached the speed of 66.66 km/h (41.42 mph) over the kilometer, driving a CGA Dogcart. That same day, the record was broken by

Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat Count Charles-François Gaston Louis Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat (7 June 1866 – 20 November 1903

, topped on 27 January 1899 when Jenatzy achieved 80.35 km/h (49.93 mph). This record was again broken by Chasseloup-Laubat, who applied rudimentary streamlining to his

Jeantaud The Jeantaud was a make of French automobile manufactured in Paris from 1893 until 1907. It was the brainchild of Charles Jeantaud, a coachbuilder who built his first electric carriage in 1881. Among the vehicles he constructed was the firs ...

. Jenatzy replied with his third land speed record on 29 April 1899, reaching 105.88 km/h (65.79 mph) in the electric CITA Nº 25 ''

La Jamais Contente ''La Jamais Contente'' ( en, The Never Contented) was the first road vehicle to go over . It was a Belgian electric vehicle with a light-alloy torpedo-shaped bodywork and batteries. The high position of the driver and the exposed chassis und ...

'', the first purpose-designed land speed racer, and the first record over 100 km/h (60 mph). In 1902, he lost the land speed record to

Léon Serpollet Léon Serpollet (4 October 1858 – 1 February 1907) was a French engineer and developer of flash steam boilers and steam automobiles. Léon Serpollet was born in Culoz, in the Ain department of France in 1859, son of the carpenter August ...

. Jenatzy won the 1903 Gordon Bennet Cup in Athy,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, at the wheel of a Mercedes. Auto racing was a deadly sport at the time and at some point Jenatzy predicted he would die in a Mercedes.

Death

Jenatzy died in 1913 in a

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

accident. He went behind a bush and made animal noises as a prank on his friends who were hunting with him. Alfred Madoux, director of the journal '' L'Etoile Belge'', fired, believing it was a wild animal. When they realised it was Jenatzy, they rushed him to hospital by car; he bled to death en route, fulfilling his own prophecy he would die in a Mercedes. He is buried at the

Laeken Cemetery Laeken Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Laeken, nl, Begraafplaats van Laken) in Brussels, Belgium, is the city's oldest cemetery still in function and the resting place of the Belgian Royal Family. It is known as the ''Belgian Père Lachaise' ...

in Brussels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenatzy, Camille 1868 births 1913 deaths Deaths by firearm in Belgium People from Schaerbeek Belgian racing drivers Hunting accident deaths Burials at Laeken Cemetery Accidental deaths in Belgium Firearm accident victims Racing drivers from Brussels